This Is Your Life will not be back for a new series, the BBC have confirmed.

The news follows months of speculation that the long-running show would be axed because of its "lack of appeal" to the younger generation.

The show first aired in 1955 with Eamonn Andrews as presenter but was axed for the first time in 1964. Andrews accompanied its move to ITV in 1969, with Michael Aspel taking over in 1988, one year after Andrews died. The BBC poached the show back in 1993.

"It's never easy to bring such a long running show as This Is Your Life to an end, but I see this more as au revoir than goodbye," said BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey.

She also paid tribute to Aspel, who quit the show in June when rumours about its future first surfaced.

"We want to thank everyone who has worked on making This Is Your Life a successful programme over so many years, from the presenter Michael Aspel, to the production teams and, of course, the many people who have been surprised by the red book."